In a college town, the turnover rate for servers in restaurants is high. So when he started working at the Olive Garden, she–a veteran server–didn’t pay any attention. After he had worked there long enough (several months) to warrant a move out of the “newbie” title, she began to notice him more and more. It wasn’t until one of their mutual friends mentioned to her, “Hey, why aren’t you dating Jim?” that she began to think of him that way.

However, she says, “We had become friends and I enjoyed goofing around with him at work and I didn’t really want to lose his friendship.” But over time, more people caught onto this and kept telling them they should date.

He was moving for school in the fall and somewhere along the way, they started joking about how they how they needed to fast-track their relationship, fall in love, and get married before he moved. “This flirtatious joke turned into us ‘getting married’ on the 4th of July in the back room at the restaurant. I remember being nervous that morning as I got ready for work. … When I walked through the doors, Jim was behind the bar and held up a bottle of sparkling apple juice and 2 ring pops and said, ‘You ready to do this?’ I couldn’t believe it! I was so happy and excited that 1) he wasn’t completely weirded out and 2) that he actually cared enough to buy ring pops and sparkling juice. Who was this guy?? We ended up going out that night and became an official couple a few days later.”

We began their engagement shoot in downtown Iowa City in the pedestrian mall. It was a perfect evening (with the most beautiful light!) and they reminisced about their times together back in the beginning of their relationship.

Also, they looked super cute. See all photos for proof.

This quite the upgrade from a ring pop, my friend!

This photo is one of my favorites. It speaks to their absolute adoration of each other. I had just put down my camera to switch out lenses and saw them snuggling close during the transition. I could go no further without grabbing this shot.